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BusinessWeek assistant managing editor and blogger Bruce Nussbaum may have been one of the 40 most powerful people in design (back in 2005), but he was no match for State Supreme Court Justice Edward J. McLaughlin.
In coverage of a group of lesbians on trial for allegedly beating up a straight man outside the IFC Center (best trial ever?), the Post mentioned that Nussbaum was removed from the jury. Apparently Nussbaum upset Justice McLaughlin for asking what kind of gang was involved, prompting McLaughlin to dismiss Nussbaum from the jury and make him wait in a Jury Room during the trial, missing testimony and courtroom antics that reportedly had a lot of laughs.
The NY Times spoke to Nussbaum and details the court transcripts, giving us a revealing look at the line between civic duty and self-concern:
Just what kind of gang was this, Mr. Nussbaum wanted to know, and should he take precautions to protect his wife, like sending her away to stay with friends?....We're a little fuzzy on the timeline, but it seems like this exchange may have come after the voir-dire (if someone knows otherwise - let us know), where Nussbam did admit he was part of a "local street gang" called Blubber's Gang during the 1960s on Eighth Street between C and D.“So do you honestly feel you’re in a position to fairly evaluate this case in view of your mindset that your wife might be in danger from an organized group of violent lesbians?” Justice McLaughlin asked.
To which Mr. Nussbaum protested, “That’s not what I’m talking about, Judge.
“When you use, when one uses, the term ‘gay,’ it generates a number of connotations,” Mr. Nussbaum said, according to the official transcript, though yesterday he said he actually used the word “gang,” not gay, and that the transcript was incorrect.
“One of them that crossed my mind was, you know, a nationally organized gang, very powerful, that could reach out and try to influence members of the jury.”
The judge, who indicated in court papers that he believed Mr. Nussbaum was trying to evade jury duty, said: “You ‘did a bad thing,’ as the saying goes. You’re off the jury.”
Nussbaum has filed a complaint with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. McLaughlin told the Times he had Nussbaum stay on because "you can’t be allowed just to play your trump card and go back to work, take your vacation, go home or whatever."
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I had jury duty about a month ago down on centre st. I was selected for a jury pool for a trial. We pretty much spent the day listening to jurors answer their questionaires. Whenever anyone came to the question asking 'can you be impartial', the people who wanted to weasel out would try to answer that in an odd way, or start arguing semantics with the judge. It was plainly obvious what they were doing. The irony is, if everyone just answered the question and moved on, we would have done everyting 4 times as fast.
I saw the judge do the exact same thing to a guy that was obviously trying to not get picked. He banished him to the main jury room for the remaindeer of the trial, while all of us that weren't picked would probably be able to leave the next day. This stuff happens every day down there. While some reporter happened to pick up nussbaums story, he is no different than any other asshole who has tried to be funny or get dismissed.
p.s.
the judge did not do anything wrong, and if you have ever been to jury duty in manhattan, you know what I'm talking about
I love this story...
You're absolutely correct, post number one.
Just like the smart aleck in the back of the classroom, the teacher get's the last word.
I'm surprised people even try, it's not like the Judge had not seen all the excuses in the world.
I was questioned to sit on jury for a trial that involved an assault (prosecutor vs. guy who allegedly attacked someone in bar fight). Of the other prospective jurors, even though I said I wrote about NYC, including crime, for a blog, I thought I'd be picked because the other prospective jurors had either been assaulted or had a family member who was assaulted. Anyway, I was kicked off (much to my disappointment) while other people were kept on. You just never know.
I absolutely hate when people try avoid jury duty without a damn good reason. It is our civic duty to serve if chosen, period. I had jury duty recently and had to wait through, literally, one third of the pool go up to the judge and explain why it would be an "extreme hardship" to serve on a criminal jury. The judge got extremely impatient with some people, but was reasonable about it. The thing is, if you get tossed from one jury pool, you get put into another, so you're not off scot free as to the rest of the day.
Good for Judge McLaughlin (though I'm sure none of the lawyers involved wanted Nussbaum on the jury!).
I've gone for criminal jury duty in Manhattan twice and both times I was excluded from any juries for one very simple reason: When they asked whether I would hold it against the defendant if he chose not to testify on his own behalf, I said yes, I would.
And nothing bad ever happened. So there's a guaranteed way to get out of criminal jury duty, and no judge can ever give you a problem. One judge asked me whether I understood that the defendant had a constitutional right to not testify, and I said yes, but if he doesn't testify I believe he's probably guilty. And that was that.
I had to serve as a grand juror for four weeks last year, but now I am excused from jury duty for something like 8 years. With the grand jury there was actually no voir dire. My job, though, gave me a really hard time about it... as if I chose to get put on grand jury for a month.